The Changing Bird Flu Threat

Why China and the U.S. may be better equipped today for a pandemic than a decade ago.

By

Tevi Troy

April 25, 2013 7:15 p.m. ET

The outbreak of avian flu in China has killed at least 22 people and infected more than 108—including a man in Taiwan who had traveled in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou. For two months airline stocks have been buffeted and officials have raised concerns about a possible pandemic. So why does the American public seem so unconcerned?

There are some good and some bad reasons for the relatively blasé reaction. Most obvious is that the...